Frederick Martin "Fritz" Reiner (December 19, 1888 – November 15,
1963) was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the
twentieth century. Hungarian born and trained, he emigrated to the
United StatesUnited States in 1922, where he rose to prominence as a conductor with
several orchestras. He reached the pinnacle of his career while music
director of the
Chicago Symphony OrchestraChicago Symphony Orchestra in the 1950s and early
1960s.

Contents

1 Life and career

1.1 Personal life

2 Repertoire and style
3 References
4 Sources
5 External links

Life and career[edit]
Reiner was born in Budapest,
Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary into a secular Jewish
family that resided in the Pest area of the city. After preliminary
studies in law at his father’s urging, Reiner pursued the study of
piano, piano pedagogy, and composition at the Franz Liszt Academy.
During his last two years there, his piano teacher was the young Béla
Bartók. After early engagements at opera houses in
BudapestBudapest and
DresdenDresden (June 1914 - November 1921), where he worked closely with
Richard Strauss, he moved to the
United StatesUnited States of America in 1922 to
take the post of Principal Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony
Orchestra. He remained until 1931, having become a naturalized citizen
in 1928, then began to teach at the
Curtis InstituteCurtis Institute in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, where his pupils included
Leonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein and Lukas
Foss. He conducted the
Pittsburgh Symphony OrchestraPittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 1938 to 1948
and made a few recordings with them for Columbia Records, then spent
several years at the Metropolitan Opera, where he conducted a historic
production of Strauss's Salome in 1949, with the Bulgarian soprano
Ljuba WelitschLjuba Welitsch in the title role, and the American première of Igor
Stravinsky's
The Rake's ProgressThe Rake's Progress in 1951. He also conducted and made a
recording of the famous 1952 Metropolitan
OperaOpera production of Bizet's
Carmen, starring Rise Stevens. The production was telecast on closed
circuit television that year. At the time of his death he was
preparing the Met's new production of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung.
In 1947, Reiner appeared on camera in the film Carnegie Hall, in which
he conducted the
New York Philharmonic OrchestraNew York Philharmonic Orchestra as they accompanied
violinist
Jascha HeifetzJascha Heifetz in an abbreviated version of the first
movement of Tchaikovsky's violin concerto. Ten years later, Heifetz
and Reiner recorded the full
TchaikovskyTchaikovsky concerto in stereo for RCA
Victor in Chicago.
Reiner's music-making had been largely American-focused since his
arrival in Cincinnati. But after the Second World War he began
markedly increasing his European activity. When he became music
director of the
Chicago Symphony OrchestraChicago Symphony Orchestra in 1953 he had an
international reputation. By common consent, the ten years that he
spent in
ChicagoChicago mark the pinnacle of his career, and are
best-remembered today through the many recordings he made in Chicago's
Orchestra Hall for
RCA VictorRCA Victor from 1954 to 1963. The first of
these—of
Ein HeldenlebenEin Heldenleben by Richard Strauss—occurred on March 6,
1954 and was among RCA's first to use stereophonic sound.[1] His last
concerts in
ChicagoChicago took place in the spring of 1963.
One of his last recordings, released in a special Reader's Digest
boxed set, was a performance of Brahms' Fourth Symphony, recorded with
the
Royal Philharmonic OrchestraRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra in October 1962 in London's Kingsway
Hall. This recording was later reissued on LP by Quintessence and on
CD by Chesky. On September 13 and 16, 1963, Reiner conducted a group
of New York musicians in Haydn's Symphony No. 101 in D major; this was
followed by September 18 and 20, 1963, sessions devoted to Haydn's
Symphony No. 95 in C minor.[2]
He also appeared with members of the
ChicagoChicago Symphony in a series of
telecasts on Chicago's
WGN-TVWGN-TV in 1953-54, and a later series of
nationally syndicated programs called Music From Chicago. Some of
these performances have been issued on DVD.[3] The videos clearly show
his stern, disciplined demeanor, but at the conclusion of a piece,
Reiner would turn to the audience and smile at them as he bowed.
Personal life[edit]
Reiner was married three times (one of them to a daughter of Etelka
Gerster) and had three daughters. His health deteriorated after a
heart attack in October 1960. He died in
New York CityNew York City on November 15,
1963, at the age of 74.
Repertoire and style[edit]
Reiner was especially noted as an interpreter of
Richard StraussRichard Strauss and
Bartók and was often seen as a modernist in his musical taste; he and
his compatriot
Joseph SzigetiJoseph Szigeti convinced
Serge KoussevitzkySerge Koussevitzky to
commission the Concerto for Orchestra from Bartók. In reality, he had
a very wide repertory and was known to admire Mozart's music above all
else.
Reiner’s conducting technique was defined by its precision and
economy, in the manner of
Arthur NikischArthur Nikisch and Arturo Toscanini. It
typically employed quite small gestures — it has been said that the
beat indicated by the tip of his baton could be contained in the area
of a postage stamp — although from the perspective of the players it
was extremely expressive. The response he drew from orchestras was one
of astonishing richness, brilliance, and clarity of texture. Igor
Stravinsky called the
ChicagoChicago Symphony under Reiner "the most precise
and flexible orchestra in the world"; it was more often than not
achieved with tactics that bordered on the personally abusive, as
Kenneth Morgan documents in 2005 biography of the conductor. Chicago
musicians have spoken of Reiner's autocratic methods; trumpeter Adolph
Herseth told
National Public RadioNational Public Radio that Reiner often tested him and
other musicians.[4]
References[edit]